You Are What You Read

Everyone has heard the old adage “You are what you eat.” Lots of recent science backs that up. Our bodies are made up of the elements of the earth, and what you choose to put into that system becomes “incorporated” (literally, “becomes part of the body”) of that system. A reasonably healthy individual can embark on an overall fitness program, integrating good eating habits with an exercise program designed to build strength, flexibility, and endurance. All this, properly managed, can slow or even reverse certain conditions of the aging process. 

Using an intellectual parallel, what you “feed your head” inevitably becomes incorporated into your world view, belief system, or storehouse of knowledge. What you read therefore is either a.) adopted directly into your mind as a belief, or b.) becomes a contrasting counterpoint to your belief system, or c.) challenges your world view and beliefs. 

Extending this analogy, you can choose stare at the tube or read pulp (the intellectual equivalent of Twinkies and soda), or seek to nourish your mind with “sterner stuff” through a deliberate regimen of reading and thinking. Such a program can be integrated into an exercise plan for your mind, building strength of logic, flexibility of thinking, and endurance for your beliefs and world view. Such a program can slow or reverse certain conditions of aging within your brain.

This is why BUILT TO LEAD links personal excellence with certain essentials, one of which is “BUILD Your Healthy, Physical Life.” Another is “BUILD Your Commitment to LEARN.” This simply can’t happen without reading. 

The statistics for all this are sobering. According to a 2007 study conducted and published by the National Endowment for the Arts, the average American aged 25-59 spends 17 minutes each day reading anything for pleasure, and 2-and-a-half hours (150 minutes) watching TV.

I’m no killjoy or scold, but NINE TIMES the Twinkies and soda..?

“Who cares?” you may wonder. Well, lack of reading correlates to such ills as unemployment, underemployment, lack of career progression, failure to vote, failure to volunteer in the community, and may even predict crime and prison terms.

So, what are you reading these days? What book has influenced your thinking recently? 

What does that say about the condition you’re in?

When was the last time you deliberately exercised your mind? 

Have you picked up and read something deep that challenged your existing opinions, or took the other side of issues you believed in? 

If not, why not?

If so, very cool. Tell us about it…